On our Park Ave's they're actually not too bad to get at. But the Lesabre has a tighter engine bay, so the back plugs were a bit of a pain.
How often do you change spark plugs?
- Thread starter SlavaB
- Start date
Never on my wife's Sienna's (2001 - donated 2013) don't plan on doing the current Sienna either.
Have changed Glow plugs on Mercedes L6 easy job they basically jump at you once.
Have changed Glow plugs on Mercedes L6 easy job they basically jump at you once.
100k. The vans rear plugs look like a pain to get at coupled with the fact the upper intake must come off, and the truck has 16 plugs.
On my old Durango, which specced every 32k, I replaced them with iridium plugs and would have ran them to 100k if I kept it that long.
On my old Durango, which specced every 32k, I replaced them with iridium plugs and would have ran them to 100k if I kept it that long.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Did the Cruze and Fusion at 100k along with one piece ignition module
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2019
- Messages
- 631
It also depends on how you drive. I spend a lot of time idling in one of my cars (sometimes up to 30 mins at a time), so even though the car has platinum iridiums which are good for 100K miles according to the owner's manual, I changed them at 75K.
Please allow a "mini-highjack" question.
I bought a low mileage 2005 Ranger. It has 100K plugs. I just broke 50,000 miles on this 16 year old vehicle.
Would you change 'em? Please, everybody chime in. I'm considering it.
I bought a low mileage 2005 Ranger. It has 100K plugs. I just broke 50,000 miles on this 16 year old vehicle.
Would you change 'em? Please, everybody chime in. I'm considering it.
30,000 miles along with coil boots and springs, injectors (with new o-rings) and oxygen sensors (plus intake manifold and throttle body gaskets on the Envoy).
I have two sets of injectors for each vehicle, and Trav's seen how bad the injectors are at this point. Some are more problematic than others; the Envoy has no fuel filter and the #6 injector is always worse than the other 5.
I have two sets of injectors for each vehicle, and Trav's seen how bad the injectors are at this point. Some are more problematic than others; the Envoy has no fuel filter and the #6 injector is always worse than the other 5.
Nope. Go the 100,000 miles, but I don’t recall Iridiums being in a 2005 Ranger. I thought they were Platinums. Also, that engine might be the Wasted Spark system in which case one bank wears more than the other if it’s a V-6. If that’s the case you might want to change them.
It depends on the engine, if its a forced induction engine then sooner than later a high rpm misfire under boost can can do damage. Some engines need a bit of dismantling to get the plugs out so if I am in there and its 50K they get replaced.
Waste spark ignitions get them at 60-75K or sooner if they show any significant wear and real old school ignition systems 10-20K. I have seen so many plugs in so many engines over the last almost 50 years I cant put a number on it.
The GM 3800 is easy enough, try a 3.1 in a venture van for a real fun time.
Waste spark ignitions get them at 60-75K or sooner if they show any significant wear and real old school ignition systems 10-20K. I have seen so many plugs in so many engines over the last almost 50 years I cant put a number on it.
The GM 3800 is easy enough, try a 3.1 in a venture van for a real fun time.
Depends on how hard the change is.
Most inline 4 are super simple. I do a 60,000 mile interval.
In my old Elantra I did it every 15,000 with copper plugs just because the plugs were less than a dollar, copper gives a better spark, and I could do all 4 in about 10 minutes. Coming up on plugs needing to be done in my xB, not sure if I will do copper or iridium.
Transverse V6, I do the 100,000 mile interval since the rear plugs usually are a pain to get to.
V-8, depends on what the vehicle came with. My '02 F150 came with platinum. I replaced them with OEM Motorcraft platinum plugs when the engine was replaced. I will probably change them @ 60,000 miles. If they look fine, I will leave the next set in for 100,000 (ie till the truck dies).
Most inline 4 are super simple. I do a 60,000 mile interval.
In my old Elantra I did it every 15,000 with copper plugs just because the plugs were less than a dollar, copper gives a better spark, and I could do all 4 in about 10 minutes. Coming up on plugs needing to be done in my xB, not sure if I will do copper or iridium.
Transverse V6, I do the 100,000 mile interval since the rear plugs usually are a pain to get to.
V-8, depends on what the vehicle came with. My '02 F150 came with platinum. I replaced them with OEM Motorcraft platinum plugs when the engine was replaced. I will probably change them @ 60,000 miles. If they look fine, I will leave the next set in for 100,000 (ie till the truck dies).
To the 3 guys above: Thanks
Yes it has a waste spark system. No enhanced induction of any kind.
NOTE: The 3rd gen. Rangers have cold air intake. High school kids waste their money on K&N systems....no benefit.
Various Ranger forum members claim Ford used 2 differing single platinum plugs for these engines on the assembly line.
On one side the center electrode was "platinum". On the other bank the prong got the premium metal.
It was stated that assembly line volume could save money; "Six tips per vehicle". Nobody challenged that theory.
Down the road, the double platinum plugs take care of the "left-right unevenness" of electrode transfer.
I was considering the difficulty in removing my original plugs in 10 years. That'll be a 26 year total!
She's running so well a few friends who understand my tortured mind said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Yes it has a waste spark system. No enhanced induction of any kind.
NOTE: The 3rd gen. Rangers have cold air intake. High school kids waste their money on K&N systems....no benefit.
Various Ranger forum members claim Ford used 2 differing single platinum plugs for these engines on the assembly line.
On one side the center electrode was "platinum". On the other bank the prong got the premium metal.
It was stated that assembly line volume could save money; "Six tips per vehicle". Nobody challenged that theory.
Down the road, the double platinum plugs take care of the "left-right unevenness" of electrode transfer.
I was considering the difficulty in removing my original plugs in 10 years. That'll be a 26 year total!
She's running so well a few friends who understand my tortured mind said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2025
I have always done them at 100,000 miles at the dealership that’s what we are trained to do.
Because it saves you a trip to the auto parts store, and about $10. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
That said, there's no harm in replacing them either. Spark plugs are cheap.
If your original plugs are iridium or platinum long-life units, they can go up to 100k miles. Timewise, I would not leave them in the engine longer than 10 years without pulling them out to inspect and/or replace. If they look good, they CAN be cleaned carefully, regapped and reused BUT cleaning and gapping can damage the electrodes on these long life plugs if not done carefully. So for most people it's better to replace them, they have served well for a long time so it's not really a waste even though they are still working.
That would depend on the brand the dealership carries wouldn't it. IIRC some Chrysler producs had (still may) had a 30K interval.
I changed my 2012 Honda plugs at 94,000 and the dash maintenance indicator came on around 95,000 miles stating it was time to change so I reset the indicater. It was a 10 minute job. My brother has a Chevrolet Cruze and he just changed his around 190,000 and said they still looked great. I wouldn't go much over 100,000 miles just to keep from possibly burning out a coil pack. No sense in asking for trouble on the road.
The coil on these things is the picture of simplicity. I'd never want to tax one.
It's all about the plugs seizing.
It's all about the plugs seizing.
You can safely wait to the 100k it says in the manual with no problem. Yes, iridium really does last that long
I usually buy cars with well over 100k, so I change the spark plugs once and then never again (the car will rust out before needing another spark plug job another 100k later)
Or longer. I'm going 150k on the current set.
I read a white paper from some Japanese engineers about four/five years ago who ran through the improvements in production technology over the last few years and the stats on failure. They were saying 200k is not unreasonable in many application with current products. Since the car I am particularly talking about usually needs vcg's at 150k, I'm now doing both at 150k (considerable saved labor).
I
Which engine? I have the 3.0 Vulcan and I don't think they used any special plugs for this engine so I change the copper plugs every 50,000 kms.